Violinist at State Capitol: ‘Stop Fiddling While World Burns’
PETA Delivers Musical Message to Urge Gov. Newsom to Take Vegan Climate Action
For Immediate Release:
August 3, 2022
Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382
As the climate catastrophe fuels California’s wildfires, a fiddler will play “Fire on the Mountain” and other tunes on the steps of the State Capitol Thursday, seeking to strike the right note in an appeal to Gov. Gavin Newsom to reduce animal agriculture’s massive role in the crisis—a point to which his administration has refused to listen. The violinist will be accompanied by an ensemble of PETA supporters and a sign that reads, “Gov. Newsom: Stop fiddling while the world burns! Go Vegan!”
When: Thursday, August 4, 12 noon
Where: California State Capitol, 1315 10th St., Sacramento
PETA points out that the McKinney fire has become California’s largest fire of 2022 and that the climate catastrophe has made a more intense fire season the new norm. According to the United Nations, a global shift to vegan eating is required to combat the worst effects of climate change, as animal agriculture alone is responsible for nearly one-fifth of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Clearing land to raise animals on and to grow crops to feed them is a leading cause of deforestation, and the massive amount of water used in animal agriculture contributes to the dry conditions that allow wildfires to spread.
“California is on fire, and animal agriculture is the tinder that makes it burn, yet Gov. Newsom is giving us a song and dance by pointing to other, lesser causes,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is pushing the governor to change his tune now and promote planet-friendly vegan meals, before we all go up in smoke.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
